The Browns bought in bulk at running back this offseason, but made a commitment to one of their own as well.

According to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the Browns are close to an extension with running back Duke Johnson.

Christian played both tackle spots for the Cardinals and likely needs a little more strength. He has good footwork and in a thin tackle class, his potential to improve could push him up the board.

Miller is a former walk-on who should be selected in the draft’s first two days. He had back-to-back 1,400-yard seasons to close his career with a combined 32 receiving touchdowns. His work ethic should give him a chance to succeed quickly.

Brown has plenty of speed, but has done his best work closer to the line of scrimmage. He is a little tight in his movements so he has difficulty keeping his speed as he changes directions. Special-teams coaches, though, will like his potential. He’s tough and can run with almost any receiver.

Some scouts say if Baker had shown a little more feistiness, he would be graded higher. But there aren’t many linebackers who run like him or can change directions with as much ease. He led the Buckeyes in tackles this past season with 72.

Shazier suffered a serious spinal injury in a game on Dec. 4 against the Bengals and has been recovering from a spinal stabilization surgery, which he underwent on Dec. 6.

Despite Shazier’s struggles, his father, Vernon, said his son regained feeling in his legs last month.

Shazier made appearances at Heinz Field for games against the Patriots and Browns in December and visited his teammates at practice in January. He shared a photo of himself in a wheelchair on the sidelines, writing that he’s far from done with football and working day-by-day to get better.

Ryan Shazier is setting the record straight. The Steelers linebacker took to Twitter on Monday to clarify the status of his rehabilitation after a report Sunday stated he had regained movement in his legs and begun a regular walking routine.

Shazier confirmed a report from NBC Sports’ Michele Tafoya was 100 percent correct in specifying that his lower-body movement remains a work in progress.

Although he does have movement in his legs, he is not walking on his own, Tafoya wrote. Shazier needs assistance from a walker or other people or to support him in his rehabilitation walking, which remains a struggle.

The Bears made wide receiver Allen Robinson a centerpiece of their offense when they signed him to a three-year, $42 million deal as a free agent this offseason despite the torn ACL that brought his 2017 season to an end in Week One.

Bears coach Matt Nagy said earlier this month that Robinson was doing everything the team wanted, which did not include any on-field work as part of their OTAs. That changed on Wednesday, however.

Are Vegas’ pregame routines over the top? You bet they are. And there is nothing remotely wrong with that. The NHL is moving, sometimes with glacial speed and sometimes reluctantly, into the show-biz realm of 21st century of sports. The more extravagant the show, the better. The NFL learned that long ago.

This may be a business to the owners (and the players, too, for that matter), but hockey is a game that is meant to be enjoyed by the masses. The Cup finals should be a spectacle.

That’s what it was for the first two games in Vegas, from start to Holtby’s finish.

The question of whether or not life is fun for Patriots players has been brought up recently by players who have spent time inside the organization and those who have only seen it from the outside.

Coach Bill Belichick responded on Thursday by saying that his job is to make sure the team is winning, which linebacker Dont’a Hightower concurred with when he was asked about the fun level in New England.

I mean, to each his own, Hightower said in comments distributed by the team. I don’t really have anything to say to them. I mean, guys here, I know — I mean, it’s not for everybody. It’s definitely harder than most places, but I mean, that’s part of it. A lot of guys know that when they come here. But, I mean, in the locker room, it’s not Bill’s job to make this fun and this atmosphere fun; it’s the guys around it.

Fans can’t ask for more star power than this prime-time quarterback matchup.

Five-time Super Bowl champion and three-time league MVP Tom Brady will lead the Patriots against one-time Super Bowl champion and two-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

While their individual talent stands out in this showdown, so does the fact they will serve as primary storylines this season.

Peter King of TheMMQB called this showdown the regular season game of the year for 2018 and highlighted the fact Brady and Rodgers have only started head-to-head one other time in their illustrious careers—a 2014 win for the Packers.

While this inter-conference clash doesn’t feature the same playoff implications as some of the divisional games on the schedule, the rare chance to see these two future Hall of Famers on the same field makes it the primetime matchup to watch in 2018.

The highlight play won’t wipe away Williams’ egregious coverage fail in January, but it should at the very least deliver a much-needed ‘W’ in the man’s Twitter mentions. We can all use that sometimes.

Those were the infamous press conference parting words from Colts general manager Chris Ballard, whose team was sent into scramble mode after Josh McDaniels walked away from a deal that was to make him Indy’s next head coach. McDaniels opted to remain the offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick in New England, and now the Colts get a chance to stick it to the guy who they thought was their guy. The rivalry comment was a touch melodramatic, sure, but that’s what we like ’round these parts. Revenge will be much more feasible for the Colts if Andrew Luck is playing in this game.

History says Dave Gettleman only trades in one direction during NFL Drafts.

In five years running the Panthers, Gettleman made four in-draft trades, acquiring the highest pick changing hands each time. In other words, he does not trade down.

I’ve seen teams that have great defenses that fold in the fourth quarter because they have no depth and now you have guys on the field for 95-98 percent. There are different ways of looking at it, but if you get a chance to accumulate quality… there is nothing wrong with that.

I’ve been doing it for so long. It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing, he says. I knew I had to work twice as hard as everybody else just to make a name for myself. And show everybody that I can really be a ballplayer. It’s going to be like that at the next level. I can’t get comfortable, or I can’t feel that I did enough to get where I’m at.

So it’s not the tweets from superstars with millions of followers that Griffin reads and re-reads and recycles as fuel. Nor the literal thousands of messages from strangers he’s received on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Griffin stopped checking his direct messages. No, he ignores the novels praising him and is glued to the 140-character tweets ripping him.

The fan mail Griffin opens all the time and brings up tonight is comprised of pointless potshots from trolls.

Shade that leaks through the cracks, into his mentions, and ensures he’ll remain Beast amid all the adulation.

Why Aaron Rodgers and the Packers could be headed for a rocky contract dispute

Aaron Rodgers has earned the title of NFL MVP twice during his time with the Green Bay Packers. So trying to lock down the quarterback with a new contract is an easy decision for the team. Rodgers’ deal is set to expire after the 2019 season and is relatively cheap for one of the best players in the NFL.

We’d certainly like to get it done sooner rather than later, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the NFL Combine of Rodgers’ contract. When you have the best player in the National Football League, it’s not going to be inexpensive. Obviously Aaron is a high priority, he’s a great player, and that should take care of itself at some point.

Once the teams are back in a normal game situation, where every play and potential penalty will have ramifications, the Devils expect the post-whistle stuff to calm down.

At that point there was 20 seconds left, we’re up three, and things happen, Boyle said. It’s an emotional game, but you have to keep your emotions in check, especially trying to keep this series 5-on-5, and play to our strengths.

Capably pinch-hitting for injured middle linebacker Kwon Alexander and weakside linebacker Lavonte David, Beckwith ended up leading all Tampa Bay linebackers in snaps last season. Once he returns to full health, he’s expected to start on the strong side, next to Alexander and David.

After trading for pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul and signing the former Eagles tandem of Vinny Curry and Beau Allen, the Bucs have a strong claim to the league’s most improved defensive front seven in 2018. Until Beckwith recovers from his injury, though, the unit will be playing short-handed.

The statement added that sports betting legislation should require air-tight coordination between the state, the casino operators and the sports leagues to closely monitor wagers to prevent potential manipulation.

It also noted that the league would incur expenses to help police sports betting and that it’s reasonable for casinos that would profit from it to compensate the leagues because there would be nothing to bet on without their games.

Those negotiations will be the first real sign of the Cousins effect and whether quarterbacks — if not players at other positions — will be able to sign fully guaranteed contracts. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Rodgers sign a fully guaranteed, three-year, $90 million deal that would top both of the numbers above and make him the first $30 million-per-year player in league history.

The running back market is unique in that so many of the largest contracts are in the past. Of the 20 largest three-year values for halfback deals since the current collective bargaining agreement was signed, 13 are no longer active contracts. Two are for draft picks, and when Saquon Barkley joins Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette in the league, he’ll make it a third. There are just five veterans on non-rookie contracts in the top 20: McCoy, Jerick McKinnon (a staggering $22.8 million), Devonta Freeman ($22.1 million), Lamar Miller ($19.8 million) and Giovani Bernard ($15.5 million).

Other players ran faster, but Vea’s time looks pretty good with the added context that he’s carrying 347 pounds on his frame while moving down the track. Vea tweaked his hamstring during that run and Kimberly Jones of NFL Media reports he won’t be taking part in any of the other drills in Indy as a result.

Vea’s Pro Day is next Saturday, so he’ll need a quick recovery to go through drills at that point.

One of the things I like most about draft season is asking prospects what types of weird questions they’ve fielded from teams during the process. Da’Shawn Hand, a promising defensive end from Alabama, had another doozy.

You prepare for a lot of the weird questions you may get, Hand told B/R. But there was one that got me. One team asked me, ‘Do you like llamas?’

I asked Hand three or four times to repeat what he said. Yup, he said llamas.

I told the team, ‘I’ve never been around a llama, so I don’t know, Hand explained, laughing as he told the story. I have no idea what that has to do with football.

Jackson told Josina Anderson of ESPN that he will represent himself, with his mother serving not as an agent but as a manager.

The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner explained that he doesn’t believe an agent is necessary, due to the current wage scale for rookie contracts. As noted when Mayfield was contemplating going without an agent, that’s indeed the best argument for the self-representation approach. However, as also noted when Mayfield was contemplating going without an agent, that approach is a potential mistake.

Fifth, a good agent will sell his client relentlessly, working scouts, coaches, owners, and media to make the players as desirable as possible. As part of this effort, a good agent will push back against harmful media narratives, like Bill Polian’s goofy notion that Jackson should play receiver.

Sixth, a good agent will try to thread the needle, getting the player in the best spot to thrive. As UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen put it, it’s better to go lower to a better team than higher to a bad one. More specifically, it’s better to go to the team that suits best overall short-term and long-term fit, regardless of draft position.

Having no agent continues to be better than having a bad agent. Every high-profile rookie, however, benefits from having a good agent, ultimately getting much more in return for the relatively small percentage that goes to the person who knows how to handle the various aspects of the player’s NFL experience that easily can become unwanted sources of stress, uncertainty, and frustration.

Goodell should. Even if Goodell can claim (perhaps with a straight face) that he holds no ill will toward Jones for what was, at its core, an effort to overthrow the Commissioner, the appearance of a conflict of interest compels Goodell to step aside.

Jones has strong arguments against the effort supposedly instigated not by Goodell but by other owners to make Jones pay for his disruptive behavior in 2017. The resolution that permits fee-shifting does not expressly apply to threats of litigation, which allows Jones and the Cowboys to claim that the team stopped short of triggering the obligation to compensate the NFL and its other member clubs for the letter-writing campaign that culminated in Jones not following through on a possible plan to sue.

Jones will have a harder time proving that, as to the Ezekiel Elliott suspension, the team did not provide substantial assistance to Elliott, given the submission of at least one sworn declaration by Cowboys general counsel Jason Cohen.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has a contract that pays an average of more than $20 million per year. However, as more and more quarterbacks receive lucrative contracts, Ryan’s average annual salary slides farther and farther down the list.

About those turnovers: Darnold had an issue there in 2017 — his 22 turnovers were tied for most in the FBS — but I actually think a lot of that was footwork. Several of his 13 interceptions were because of poor footwork, and some of his sacks were the result of his not properly setting his feet and climbing the pocket. Scouts will take a close look at Darnold’s footwork and mechanics on Wednesday to see if he’s moving in the right direction.

Deep outs to the opposite hash. Fades. Corners. Get under center. Show three-, five- and seven-step drops. (If it’s raining, even better). Scouts are watching every throw and the footwork that goes into those throws. In a perfect world, no balls would hit the ground against air. Now, Darnold can’t help his receivers dropping the ball, but ball placement matters. Is he giving his receivers a chance to make a play on every throw?

Is he gonna buy into it? I believe he will, said Rolle, who speaks regularly with Rodgers-Cromartie. DRC’s a team player, he’s been a team player for the last couple of years. In my honest opinion, he never should have been out of the starting lineup as a corner because he had one of his best years at corner, then all of a sudden he’s no longer the starter, I never understood that move.

He can be very valuable at safety. Given, he’s going to have to make the open field tackle and he has to understand it’s not about a solo tackle or a knockout hit, it’s about getting the guy down, at all costs. That’s the biggest thing a safety has to understand, you’re the last guy on the defense, if they get by you it’s seven points.

Pitaro, 48, has long been atop Disney chairman Bob Iger’s list as possible successor to John Skipper. In fact, according to sources, Skipper for years had held off Iger’s suggestion to have Pitaro serve as his right-hand man. It would have resulted in a clear succession plan.

I think LeBron said it best, McCollum said. Having money doesn’t change your color or race �� you still are either a white man, a black man, a European man, an Asian man, you still have experiences in your life that are different than the next person, regardless of how much money you have.

So I think that, to just write somebody off because they play a sport is ludicrous. You still have a right to your opinion, regardless of what you do in your day-to-day life. I think that’s disrespectful, to tell somebody to shut up and dribble.

McCollum won’t be around at All-Star weekend much longer, but at least he’s representing the NBA well in the short time he’s here.

The big problem, so far, has been that the Lakers can’t find a way to clear out the cap space for this summer. The solution: just ahead of the trade deadline, they make the claim that they were never all that focused on 2018 in the first place. Ahem.

It’s fun competition. I get excited when they say my name and the fans go wild. I know I have to not only beat the guy but put on a show when I do it. Most importantly, my son gets to see me. It feels like the tours. We packed out NBA arenas. It gives me a chance to have one more run to show off my greatness. I get to show that I’m the greatest ankle breaker not in the NBA of all time.

HS: Those moments when you know the defender knows exactly what you’re going to do, and then you do it anyway. You still pull the move off. The fans standing every time I touched the ball. It was a performance as well as the game. The competition �� we went at each other hard. I also had to step my defense up. Guys wanted to embarrass me like I did them, so I had to be ready.

HS: I’m involved with NBA Cares. I’m doing training sessions with kids and raising my son. I really enjoy life. I’m fortunate that I’m able to do things I love and help people. The Hawks and Kumho have been wonderful partners to work with. I’m enjoying this and getting the chance to inspire the youth. I love working with kids.

When shopping for new destinations, NBA free agents have a few things in common with real estate agents and teenagers seeking prom dates �� you don’t want to appear too desperate. The more desperation, the less attractive.

What the Cavaliers did on Thursday in pulling off a roster overhaul that saw the team bring in three players heading into their prime years �� Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and Rodney Hood �� without coughing up the team’s right to Brooklyn’s pick in this year’s draft puts them in an enviable situation heading into this summer.

Before the deadline, the entire future of the Cavs was latched to LeBron James’ 2018 free-agency decision. The moves they made, though, allow them to stay afloat as a franchise no matter what James does �� and that could make James more likely to stay.

The new format is a response to the lack of competition in recent years; the Western Conference has won six of the last seven games, with the East’s last win coming in 2014. This change is one of many reasons to tune into this year’s game. In addition to the All-Star draft, the NBA has increased winners’ earnings to restore high-level competition.

James and Curry drafted their teams from the pool of All-Stars, playground style. Here’s a look at each All-Star roster.

Of course, wherever James lands, that team becomes an immediate contender. The Cavs are a long way from a championship without him. But quite suddenly, they have assets on hand and a glimmer of a future even without James. They’re not desperate for James to stay. Maybe that’ll be enough to keep him in place.

While it will initially be lost in the whirlwind of the Cavs’ massive overhaul, the Lakers did an overhaul of their own in terms of their future obligations.

In the first big move of deadline day, the Lakers traded Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cavs for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and Cleveland’s own 2018 first-round pick.

While Thomas and Frye can absolutely contribute to the Lakers for the remainder of this season �� though Frye makes sense as a buyout candidate �� both of them are on expiring contracts while Clarkson and Nance will make a combined $14.8 million next season. Cleveland’s first-round pick will take a little less than $2 million off the total, but that roughly $13 million is absolutely massive for a team looking to clear cap space for this summer.